Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Thomas M. Messer

Summary

(Electronic Resource)

Oral history interview with Thomas M. Messer, 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan, Transcript
Collection ID:
AAA.messer94
Creators:
Messer, Thomas M.
Decker, Andrew
Dates:
1994 Oct.-1995 Jan
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
83 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Thomas M. Messer conducted 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan., by Andrew Decker, for the Archives of American Art, at the Americas Society, New York, N.Y.
Scope and Contents
Messer speaks about his youth in pre-World War II Czechoslavakia, his directorship of the American Federation of Arts; the Roswell Museum in Roswell, N.M.; the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He discusses his collecting interests in connection with the development of the Guggenheim, particularly Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky; his working relationship with Harry, Peter, and Peggy Guggenheim; numerous exhibitions; and the acquisitions of several major collections. Finally, he comments on post-retirement projects, particularly at the National Gallery of Prague.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Thomas M. Messer (1920- ) is a museum director in New York, N.Y.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content

(Electronic Resource)

Oral history interview with Thomas M. Messer, 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan, Transcript

(Sound Recording)

Oral history interview with Thomas M. Messer, 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan, Digital Sound Recording (Excerpt)

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hrs., 23 min.
General
End of interview session Jan. 24, 1995 (Tape 6, side B) not recorded due to equipment malfunction.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art museum directors -- United States -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Klee, Paul, 1879-1940 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guggenheim, Harry Frank, 1890-1971 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Federation of Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Národní galerie v Praze Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
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